African Men and Women as Parents: Equal but Different?

Abstract

Without the exception of lactation, there is no evidence that African women are psychobiologically predisposed to be better parents than some African men are. There are common elements that make up good parenting, regardless of what gender a person is, such as responsiveness, empathy, love, and sensitivity. The article illustrates the important roles that fathers and mothers play in helping the family to connect and in encouraging their children's autonomy. Fathers have the same physiological response to an infant's cry, and in the first hours after birth, fathers and mothers go through the very same sequence of earliest parental behaviours. ‘Mother’ and ‘father’ factors have important effects on the growth of children. There is no biological imperative requiring the inflexible parental roles. Indeed, a boy needs a father as a model for identification, and a girl needs a mother for the same purpose.

Key words:

• African parents
• equal but different